HANOVER -- Three wolves were shot Sunday near residences on Rock Haven Road after getting loose, attacking a beagle and posing a threat to the dog's owner.
Kathy Bryan called the Licking County Sheriff's Office Sunday morning and reported three wolves belonging to her neighbor had gotten loose and attacked her chained dog.
Bryan heard her dogs barking, and she said she came outside to see wolves on her property.
She said she got her shotgun and fired a warning shot into the air. One of the bigger wolves reportedly had her beagle by the neck, trying to pull him off his chain. Another was climbing the fence around her caged beagles, she said. Bryan used the shotgun to stop the wolf from attacking her dog. She shot the other wolf as it advanced on her. She killed both wolves.
"I felt bad shooting them," she said. "I cried and then I cried. It wasn't their fault. They shouldn't have been there."
She said she didn't initially know there were three wolves in her yard. The third one ran back into the woods toward its owners' house.
"They were hungry," Bryan said. "They aren't pets. They are wild animals. Wolves will kill."
The third wolf was shot by the sheriff's office because the wolf showed signs of aggression and was loose, according to the police report. The wolves' owners reportedly were not home when the attack occurred. The sheriff's office and animal control responded to the scene. According to the report, a Licking County Division of Wildlife officer said the animals were permitted at Robert Pitt's residence. They were, however, required to be in a pen.
The beagle suffered puncture wounds to the neck and back and bruising to its body. Bryan said her dog may need to go back to the veterinarian because it is having breathing problems.
Bryan said this isn't the first time she had complained about her neighbor's animals.
"I kept complaining that something like this was going to happen. No one listened," she said. "Now it has."
She said the neighbors have raised various animals, including lions, on the property in the past. Other animals have been on Bryan's property before. Bryan said she has reported these incidents on several occasions, and the situation remained the same. But she wasn't aware she was living next to wolves, nor did she know how long her neighbors have had wolves.
Pitt declined to comment.
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